RIVIERA F1 e DYWA F1 010

   What could have been another promising Italian Formula 1 team, Riviera F1, ended before it even began. Using the chassis of a 1979 Kauhsen WH05, driver Alberto Colombo, who had briefly appeared in Formula 1 in 1978, attempting to qualify a Merzario A1 for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, set up his own car for the top category.

Giorgio Valentini and Alberto Colombo with the RIVIERA F1

   Engineer Giorgio Valentini, who had previously worked with Merzario on the A3 project, modified the original Kauhsen chassis by replacing it with one produced by the British company Thompson. Otherwise, the differences were minimal, with only slight changes such as higher side panels in front of the rear wheels. Thanks to financial support from sponsors based in Brianza, including Achilli Motors, Le Coq Sportif, Speedline, and a few other technical partners, the car was nearly finished at the beginning of 1980. However, for unknown reasons, the project was suddenly halted. The car was dismantled before ever hitting the track, and its components were sold separately to recover part of the investment.

   Another attempt, this time much more amateurish and improvised, took place in a farmhouse in Canegrate, near Milan. Here, a group of passionate enthusiasts with a distinct “English Style,” led by Pietro "Dydo" Monguzzi, conceived a Formula 1 car to compete in the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. This particular season, the race was not held in Monza near Milan but at Imola. The team's extremely limited financial resources led to the construction of a crude car with a welded steel tube chassis. Instead of the traditional Ford Cosworth engine, they adapted a Chevrolet engine from Formula 5000 to the maximum 3,000 cc displacement, coupled with an old Hewland DG300 gearbox from the early 1970s.

the prototype DYWA F1 010

   The Dywa F1 010 was assembled and tested at the tiny Schiranna airfield on Lake Varese, with Monguzzi himself at the wheel. Its track debut took place at Monza in June 1980, during the Gran Premio Lotteria, a race associated with the International Formula Aurora Championship, with Piercarlo Ghinzani as the driver. Despite Dydo Monguzzi’s determination, reality proved to be much harsher than expected. After this single appearance, Ghinzani abandoned the team due to the car’s extremely poor performance, and it was never entered in another race again.